Heron, Kingfisher and Friends at Lackford Lakes

The small birds were sheltering on a very blustery day at Lackford Lakes yesterday but made up for by being able to photograph Kingfisher among the summer flowers, grumpy Heron, Great Crested Grebe with fish, pursued by its young(look at its huge paddle yellow feet) and Cormorants who didn't keep to the odd number rule for good composition.

 

Bee-Wolf Wasps and Other Hymenoptera at Sandy Bedfordshire

Beewolf Wasps (Philanthus triangulum) paralyse Honey Bees and bring them back to their burrows for the larvae to feed on. Various views with Bees in flight etc. There were a lot of Pantaloon Bees around digging and provisioning burrows and also large numbers of restless males buzzing around and resting on flowers. Also found the Common Spiny Digger Wasp Oxybelus uniglumis with impaled prey, Red-legged Spider Wasp with a Spider prey, an Astata boops and Epeolus spp with beautiful pink eyes.
For details of all the strange interactions see last year's post. Additional notes on these strange interactions: the Spider wasp excavates a nest burrow in loose sand. After capture, the spider is temporarily buried whilst a suitable nest burrow is excavated. The spider recovers partially after interment and wanders across the surface of the closed cell until it is finally killed by the wasp larva feeding on its abdomen. The silk laid down by the spider during this period binds together the sand grains and maintains the structure of the cell in the loose sand.

Butterflies at Barton, Cambridgeshire: Brown Argus versus Common Blue

We enjoyed an early morning walk at Barton yesterday and was surprised by the numbers of butterflies active on the flower bank. The Common blues were busy mating and feeding in very large numbers. It was great to see the minute Brown Argus in fair numbers. Always good to confirm the ID from photographs when back.  The Brown Argus lacks any blue scales and has figure of eight spots on the hind wing; also tend to be smaller. Small Coppers and Six-spot Burnet Moths added colour to the banks. A few dragonflies were active and the two Buzzards flew over constantly.

Confiding Sedge Warbler at Rye Meads RSPB

This Sedge Warbler was busy feeding young - beaks full of crane flies and Episyrphus balteatus hoverflies were delivered along with earwigs. Other noteable sightings - five Green Sandpipers and two Little Egrets

Focus Stacking - Extreme Macro

Monday was a cold wet morning so these dragonflies were unable to fly - ideal subjects for focus stacking using a Focus Rail and 50mm lens (f2.8). 

Sixty Southern Hawkers and Still Counting....

This year has seen mass emergence of Southern Hawker Dragonflies in our garden pond. Things were getting  crowded with the exuviae doubled stacked in places so I decided to collect up what I could reach and hadn't already fallen into the pond. I retrieved over 60 exuviae so, with those still on the reeds and in the water, we have probably had getting on for 100 Southern Hawkers out of one pond (plus the earlier crop of four-Spots). what did they all eat - certainly we don't seem to have so many Newts as previously. Already this morning four more have hatched!